Game Recaps 3/22/25

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS 

Carolina Drops Final Game Against Columbus, 5-2

River Dragons use big 2nd period to down Thunderbirds

by Brendan Reilly

Winston-Salem, NC - The Carolina Thunderbirds fell to the Columbus River Dragons, 5-2, on Saturday night at the Fairground Arena in front of 3,156 fans. 

Carolina (35-10-4) struck first midway through the 1st period. Jiri Pestuka netted his second goal of the weekend giving the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. In the second, Columbus (29-13-4) scored three unanswered goals within six minutes to propel the River Dragons in front, 3-1, with less than seven minutes remaining in the middle frame. 

Gus Ford cut the deficit to one with 2:12 left in the 2nd period, swatting home his own rebound, making it a 3-2 game going to the 3rd period. 

Across the final 20 minutes, Columbus netted a shorthanded goal and Ryan Hunter capped off the 5-2 win with his first goal of the weekend with 10:27 left in regulation, handing the Thunderbirds their 1oth loss of the season. 

Carolina is back in action tomorrow afternoon against the Blue Ridge Bobcats in Wytheville, Virginia.  Puck drop is set for 4:05 p.m. from the Hitachi Energy Arena. 

River Dragons Three Goals in Second Period Paved the Way to Victory

by Tom Callahan

Winston-Salem, NC - Cody Wickline scored twice to help propel the Columbus River Dragons to a 5-2 win over the Carolina Thunderbirds on Saturday night.

With the win, the River Dragons earned a weekend split and are now a single point from cementing a berth in the Commissioners Cup Playoffs.

Wickline’s first goal of the night came via a five-on-three power play as he tipped in a Nolan Slachetka pass at 13:17 of the second period, a goal that would hold up as the game winner. Wickline also added insurance with a shorthanded marker at 7:25 of the third period.

Alexander Jmaeff, Alex Storjohann and Ryan Hunter also added singles in the win for Columbus. Matt Petizian made 35 saves for the victory.

Notes:

• Columbus is now one point from clinching a playoff berth in the Commissioners Cup Playoffs.
• Gus Ford’s goal was his 30th of the season, making him the 6th FPHL player to hit that mark this season.
• After failing to convert on a pair of five-on-three power play chances on Friday night, Columbus took just 35 seconds to score on Saturday’s chance. Those two power plays were the only ones Columbus would see in the game.

The River Dragons return home for a three-game set against the HC Venom Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Columbus Civic Center. Tickets are available for all remaining River Dragons home games at the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.

DASHERS of DANVILLE at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

 Hat Tricks Strike Four Times in Third, Take Down Dashers, 6-3

by Wyatt Kopelman

Danbury, CT - The Hat Tricks scored four goals in the third period to defeat the Dashers, 6-3, at the Danbury Ice Arena on Saturday to sweep the season series, 4-0, and secure all nine points this week.

The Hat Tricks again started fast offensively as they did in the first game of the weekend series, firing 21 shots on Dashers goalie Parker Rutherford in the opening period. Danbury’s continuous time in the offensive zone paid off as Vadim Frolov scored backdoor at 1:45 to give Danbury a 1-0 lead.

Nearly four minutes later, co-head coach Jonny Ruiz cashed in on the Hat Tricks’ first power play opportunity and backhanded the second goal of the game to double the advantage.

The Dashers countered with a shorthanded goal at 5:44 of the second. Quinn O’Reilly’s wrist shot on an odd-man rush trimmed Danbury’s lead to 2-1.

Inside the first minute of the third, the Hat Tricks restored their two-goal lead. Chase Harwell put the Hat Tricks ahead, 3-1, on Ruiz’s cross-slot pass 18 seconds into the frame. Ruiz then slipped home his second goal of the night 20 seconds later to make it a 4-1 contest. Ruiz has three multi-goal performances over his last nine games.

Former Hat Tricks forward Jhuwon Davis brought the Dashers to within two, 4-2, on a rebound off the rush at 2:25 of the third. Dylan Hullaby’s snapshot inside the left circle at 8:48 tallied Danbury’s fifth goal and his 10th of the season.

With just less than 3 ½ minutes left, Danbury’s penalty kill survived a five-on-three as Zach Pamaylaon and Josh Labelle were hit with goalie interference and delay of game calls. The Dashers, however, converted just as the man advantage expired when Blake Siewertsen buried a goal to make it a two-goal game again at 5-3 with about four minutes remaining.

The Hat Tricks potted their final goal of the contest with 20 seconds remaining. Gleb Bandurkin controlled his own rebound in the slot and fed Aleksandr Vasilyev above the crease.

Frankie McClendon stopped 25 shots to improve to 9-1-1. The ninth-year goalie has won in seven straight starts and has his most victories since the 2022-23 season as a member of Danbury’s Commissioner’s Cup team.

Up next, the Hat Tricks battle the Binghamton Black Bears on the road on Friday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm.

Big Third Period Lifts Rabbits

by Devin Dobek

Danbury, CT - After a very one sided affair on Friday night, the Dashers were looking to harness 60 minutes of their best hockey against a tough Danbury Hat Tricks squad. Defensive breakdowns and missed opportunities led to the Deer's demise as Danbury escaped with a 6-3 victory at home. 

The Dashers were ready to turn the page for a fresh, clean, slate on Saturday vs the Hat Tricks. In front of a raucous crowd, the Rabbits had a different idea in mind; floor the offense. It took just over 100 seconds for Vadim Frolov to open the scoring with his 19th of the season on a masterclass tic-tac-toe play. About 2 minutes later Andrew Uturo took a good penalty to save Parker Rutherford from a 2-on-0, but it opened the door wide for one of the best power play units in the league. The most lethal threat on the Hat trick’s man advantage came to life, yes Jonny Ruiz. Power-moving down low on his backhand, Ruiz banked the puck off the back of Rutherford’s pad for his team high 10th power play goal to extend the lead to 2. Danbury dominated the final 14 minutes of period 1 after this, outshooting the Deer 21-3. The Dashers needed some sort of change heading into period 2, but who would step up to turn the tide?

Turns out, it would take everyone to turn the tide. Danbury came out with early pressure and zone time until the first media timeout. Paul Maclean definitely made some adjustments in the room during the break, and those changes began to reflect into positives in period 2. After Jhuwon Davis took a minor for delay of game, the Dashers were forced to dig deep for a big kill. Instead they did one better, with the rookie Quinn O’Reilly sniping home a give and go shorthanded to put the Dashers on the board at 2-1. Danbury clearly took exception to this tally, and despite numerous Grade A scoring chances they couldn’t find a way to crack Parker Rutherford. The Dashers certainly showed everyone in the Danbury Ice Arena that they were able to compete, setting up a few flurries of their own in the back-half that McClendon answered with some big-time stops. Danbury outshot the Dashers 19-13 in period 2, but the stage was set for an exciting one-goal game with 20 minutes to go. Would the Hat Tricks find another gear of offense to pull away? Or would Parker Rutherford and the Dashers be able to dig even deeper and find a way to pull off one of the biggest upsets in the FPHL this season?

Well the former certainly proved to be true. In the opening 38 seconds of period 3 Chase Harwell and Jonny Ruiz each grabbed a tally to blow open a 3 goal lead. Still there was plenty of time to go, and the Dashers found an answer with Jhuwon Davis crashing the net and burying a feed from Quinn O’Reilly to make it 4-2. But Danbury just found every way they could to control the tempo and possession time. Dylan Hullaby sniped one from in tight to boost the lead back to 3. But somehow the game was not over. Just after a Dasher power play expired, Blake Siewertsen ripped the pill top shelf over the glove of McClendon to make it 5-3. After the ensuing faceoff, Danbury took a pair of minor penalties just 9 seconds apart, opening the door to a Dasher 2-man advantage. Other than some tremendous scoring opportunities that somehow wouldn’t go, the Dashers couldn’t pick up another big time goal. Aleksandr Vasilyev planted the dagger with a 6th mark as the Hat Tricks completed the season series sweep with a 6-3 final.

The Dashers fall to 2-44-3 and will return home to begin a 5 game homestand first with the Watertown Wolves. The Hat Tricks improve to 30-12-8 and will get ready for a huge home and home set with the top seeded Binghamton Black Bears. 

MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at PORT HURON PROWLERS 

Yohsihiro Kuroiwa Shuts Out Mississippi

by Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI - Yoshihiro Kuroiwa pitched a 24-save shutout to help the Prowlers to a 6-0 win over the Mississippi Sea Wolves, their seventh-straight victory. The shutout is the second for the Prowlers this season and first at home since Kurt Gutting made 34 saves on April 10, 2021. 

“He’s the ultimate pro,” said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. “He’s an absolute warrior. Every day in practice, he’s locked in, he battles and competes like crazy. He plays with an unbelievable amount of confidence. He doesn’t care how many times his number is called, when he’s in there, he knows he’s going to shut the door and the team really rallies behind him.”

The offense supporting Kuroiwa got started early. Reggie Millette collected his own rebound and put the puck back on net from the corner. It hit a Sea Wolf and caromed in to make it 1-0 after 46 seconds. Later in the first, Austin Fetterly sent a shot through and Alex Johnson tipped it home for his team-high eighth power-play goal of the season.

In the second, Vincent Dekumbis held the puck in the corner and snuck a pass through to the back door. Tucker Scantlebury tapped it home as he came out from behind the net.

Dekumbis got himself a goal in the third. He jumped a faceoff in the defensive zone and sprinted ahead, splitting the Mississippi defense and scored on the breakaway. Four minutes later, Scantlebury galloped into the offensive zone and wrapped the puck around the net. Dekumbis crashed the back side and put it home.

Millette bookended the scoring, putting a rebound to the top shelf off a Bryan Parsons shot.

Kuroiwa was the first star of the night after the shutout. Dekumbis finished with two goals and an assist while Scantlebury and Johnson added a helper apiece to their goals. Millette had two tallies and three players, Matt Graham, Adam Heinzl and Lukas Lacny, each dished out two helpers.

“I feel everyone supporting me,” Kuroiwa said. “It gave me more energy to keep going. I appreciate everyone for supporting me.”

Richie Parent made 45 saves in the loss.

The Battle of I-94 returns next weekend with a 7:35 P.M. puck drop at Big Boy Arena on Friday, March 28 and a 6:05 P.M. puck drop at McMorran Place on Saturday, March 29. Tickets to Saturday’s game are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.

Prowlers Shutout Sea Wolves in Michigan Finale, 6-0

by Jon Kliment

Port Huron, MI - The Sea Wolves rolled into McMorran Arena for the final of a five game set against the Prowlers. Port Huron took the first four matchups of the series and look to continue their domination of the set as they look for home ice advantage in the playoffs. Mississippi came in after a tough loss last night to Motor City while trying to make a case for player accomplishments.

The first period got off to a rough start for the Sea Wolves as just 46 seconds in Reginald Millette found the back of the net on an odd angle shot past Richie Parent for the 1-0 lead. Later in the period on the man advantage Alex Johnson tipped home an Austin Fetterly clapper from the point to give the Prowlers the 2-0 edge.

Even though the second frame saw a lot of back and forth it was once again Port Huron who found the scoring touch as Tucker Scantlebury had his stick on the ice for a Vincent Dekumbis pass that deflected in for a 3-0 lead 13:49 into the period.

7:19 into the final frame Dekumbis buried one of his own to dash hopes for the Sea Wolves of a third period resurgence. 3:59 later Dekumbis tallied again making it a 5-0 lead. Millette added one more for the 6-0 victory.

Parent stopped 45 of 51 in the loss.

The Sea Wolves return to action next Friday night in Monroe at 7pm. Catch all the action on Youtube. 

BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Bobcats Bounce Back, Re-Tie Zydes for 4th with 2-1 Win

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - The Blue Ridge Bobcats bounced back in a big way, battening down the hatches and holding on for a 2-1 win over the Baton Rouge Zydeco on Saturday night at Hitachi Energy Arena. The win pulled the Bobcats back into a tie in the point column for 4th place in the Continental Division with Baton Rouge, with the Zydeco still clinging to the overall win tiebreaker.

Both teams played as tight checking hockey as they had throughout the entire season series in the finale of it, leaving little to no time or space for either side through the first period and a half. Both teams combined for just 20 shots through the opening 20 minutes.

The Blue Ridge man advantage proved to be the difference on the night, as a pair of second period power play goals propelled the Bobcats to the 2-1 victory.

Daniel Klinecky created time and space and saucered a pass to Mike Mercurio, who let loose a heat seeking missle of a one-timer past Sammy Bernard and into the back of the net to finally break the seal after 34:28 of scoreless hockey.

4:16 later, Nick McHugh banked a pass off a Zydeco defender in front of the net and past Bernard to double the Blue Ridge lead going into the second intermission.

The Zydes would outshoot the 'Cats 16-9 in the final frame and converted once on their own power play with a goal from Scott Shorrock, but Greg Hussey stood tall in goal to close the door. The veteran netminder stopped 37 of 38 Baton Rouge shots on the night to earn the win and the game's third star.

Klinecky, who assisted on both Blue Ridge goals, earned second star, while Mercurio's goal and assist effort netted him first star.



With at least a point tomorrow afternoon against the Carolina Thunderbirds, the Bobcats could move into sole possession of 4th place in the Continental Division. The puck drops on Kids Day Sunday presented by Aschenbach Automotive at 4:05 p.m., at Hitachi Energy Arena. 

BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at WATERTOWN WOLVES

Wolves Four Goals in First Wasn't Enough

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - For the final time in the regular season the Wolves and Black Bears met tonight in the Watertown Municipal Arena. After last nights 6-1 loss, the Wolves would one again find themselves trying to get back to the win column, and also trying to close the gap with Port Huron for the third playoff spot in the Empire division.

Unlike Friday night, This Saturday found Watertown lighting the lamp several times in the first period.

Trevor Lord started the scoring lifting past Black Bears starter CJ Hapward at the 9:24 mark, with the assist going to Davide Gaeta.

Andrew Whalen slapped home Watertown's second goal at the 10:20 mark, with Dustin Henning and Trevor Neumann getting the helpers on the play.

Trevor Lord netted his second of the night at 11:58 of the period to stretch the Wolves lead to 3-0, assisted by Gaeta and Trevor Grasby.

At 17:06 Davide Gaeta added another goal to the lead making it 4-0. Grasby and Lord had the assists on the goal, giving Lord his third point in the first 20 minutes.

Binghamton doubled up Watertown in the shots on goal total, 18-9 in the first, but Watertown held the 4-0 lead at the break.

The tide would turn in period 2 as all the scoring belonged to the Black Bears. Gavin Yates got the scoring started at the 1:45 mark on a power play goal, assisted by Daniel Stone and Kyle Stephan.

Nicholas Swain added the second goal for Binhamton at 4:15 of the frame assisted by Stone and Scott Ramaekers, cutting the Wolves lead in half. 4-2

Daniel Stone added the second power play goal of the period for the Black Bears at 9:11 of the period closing the gap to 4-3. Gavin Yates and CJ Stubs had the assists on the goal.

The Black Bears continued to outshoot Watertown, 22-9 in the second and 40-18 after 40 minutes of play.

Just 1:11 into the third, the Black Bears completed the comeback with a Scott Ramaeker to tie the game at 4 each.

At the 5:09 mark, Cameron Clark put the Black Bears out front for the first time assisted by Scott Ramaekers making the score 5-4.

Nicholas Swain would strike again at the 16:43 mark extending the Black Bears lead to 6-4.Dan Weiber and Scott Ramaekers had the assists on the goal.

Binghamton added an empty net goal at 19:32, by Christopher Mott, assisted by Anthony Bernardo and Cameron Clark, giving the Black Bears 7 unanswered goals to close the game out.

Binghamton outshot Watertown 65-22 for the game. 

The Wolves will head out on the road next weekend as they travel to Danville to take on the Dashers for two games. For the Black Bears next weekend, it will be a home and home series with the second place Danbury Dashers.

Down 4-0, Flip the Switch, Win 7-4

by Brooks Hill

Watertown, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Watertown Wolves 7-4 on Saturday night. Binghamton trailed 0-4 after the first period but scored the final seven goals to complete the comeback. 

The first 20 minutes were not exciting for the Black Bears. In the middle of the period, in a two-minute span, the Wolves scored three goals. Watertown finished the frame with a power play goal, and they led 4-0 against the defending champs, the largest deficit this season to start a game for Binghamton. 

With that period in the gutter, Binghamton bounced back, beginning in the second. Gavin Yates scored early on the Black Bears first power play, giving the bench life. Two minutes later Nick Swain tallied his second goal of the season, cutting the Watertown lead down to two. On the second power play of the night, Dan Stone continued his offensive hot streak, rifling one past the goalie. Binghamton chipped away at the Watertown lead and after two periods, the Wolves led 4-3.

Once again, Binghamton was the benefactor of an early goal. This time Scott Ramaekers scored an unassisted goal 1:11 into the frame. After trailing 4-0 in the first, Binghamton climbed the mountain and tied the game at 4-4. They didn’t stop there. Cam Clark scored his third goal of the weekend at 5:09, giving the Black Bears their first lead of the night. Swain grabbed the team an insurance goal and the evening was capped off with a Chris Mott empty-net goal. The Black Bears finish the night with seven unanswered goals as they storm back to win 7-4. 

With Binghamton’s 44th victory of the season, they have clinched home-ice advantage in the FPHL playoffs. They will be the #1 overall seed in the postseason.   

HC VENOM at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS

Motor City Score Three in the Third, Topples Venom 5-2

by Brady Beedon

Fraser, MI - For the first time since December, the Motor City Rockers have won back to back games.

The Hockey Club Venom and the Rockers battled Saturday night in a pivotal matchup with playoff implications. 

For the second straight night, the Rockers fell behind when Venom forward Stavros Soilis beat Rocker goalie Rico Gonzalez to give the Venom the early 1-0 lead.

Yegor Kabatayev evened the score at 1-1 when he finished a scrambling play, netting his 10th of the season.

The Venom would strike back before the first period ended, when Nathan Butler finished a two-on-one chance to put them back on top, 2-1.

That was the last time the Venom would score.

The second period would be rather quiet, until Mark Pozsar took a holding minor, giving Motor City a power play in the waning minutes.

Up a man, Eli Rivers picked the top corner, burying his 25th of the season and bringing the score to a 2-2 deadlock into the third.

Neither side would break the tie in the opening ten minutes of the period.

But during another scramble in front of the Venom net, Venom goalie Rahul Sherma failed to cover the puck, and Cody Oakes collected the loose biscuit, firing it into the back of the net giving Motor City their first lead of the night, 3-2.

Unhappy with the officials during the play. Venom forward Steven Ford picked up a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct before the play resumed. 

Off the ensuing draw, the Venom’s Craig Connor tried to clear the puck, but lifted the puck over the glass, drawing a delay of game minor just eight seconds later.

On the five-on-three advantage, TJ Sneath corralled a rebound in the low slot, flicking it into the net extending the lead to 4-2.

:29 later, still on a power play, Josh Colten went top shelf to put the finishing touches on the 5-2 victory.

The game was the fourth in as many nights for the HC Venom.

“We wore them down physically and mentally,” head coach Jameson Milam said. “They started taking some penalties and it was a good time for our power play to get hot and the puck to start bouncing in for us.”

It was the first time since late December that the Rockers recorded wins on back-to-back nights.

“As you could see before this weekend, we were a little bit down,” Oakes said. “To come back and get two wins, it builds up all the confidence. Especially doing it against two different teams.”

Motor City looks to build off their recent success, as their magic number to clinch a postseason berth sits at 20.

“It’s been a while since we put two together,” Milam said. “We can’t be satisfied, we need to figure out what we did tonight that we can be better at tomorrow and somehow find a way to put it all together again for 60 minutes.”

The Motor City Rockers and Hockey Club Venom will rematch Sunday at 2:05 to complete the weekend series.